Jasper Cillessen Becomes FC Barcelona's 20th Dutchman

FC Barcelona have signed Jasper Cillessen as a replacement goalkeeper for Claudio Bravo, who has left for Manchester City. Signed from Ajax, the 27-year-old international from Nijmegen is the second Dutch keeper to play for the first team, following on from Ruud Hesp, who was at the club from 1997 to 2000.

The new signing continues the rich tradition of players from Holland at Barça. In fact, Cillessen is Dutchman number twenty, a saga that dates back to the arrival of the late, great Johan Cruyff in 1973, a man who changed the face of the club forever. Cruyff would later be joined in the Catalan capital by another of the finest exponents of the total football developed in the Netherlands - Johan Neeskens.

Another Dutch star whose name has gone down in the annals of Barça history isRonald Koeman, scorer of the goal that won the 1992 European Cup Final. But it was in the late nineties that the biggest influx of Dutch players arrived. With manager Louis Van Gaal on the bench, the likes of Kluivert, Cocu, Frank de Boer and Overmars became firm favourites at the Camp Nou.

The last Dutchman, until Cillessen, to wear the FCB jersey was midfielder Ibrahim Afellay.

FC BARCELONA'S TWENTY DUTCHMEN:

Johan Cruyff (1973-1978)                        
Johan Neeskens (1974-1979)                          
Danny Muller (1988)
Ronald Koeman (1989-1995)
Richard Witschge (1991-1993)                        
Jordi Cruyff (1993-1996)                        
Michael Reiziger (1997-2004)                          
Ruud Hesp (1997-2000)
Winston Bogarde (1997-2000)                        
Bowdejwin Zenden (1998-2001)
Philippe Cocu (1998-2004)
Patrick Kluivert (1998-2004)                        
Ronald de Boer (1999-2000)                          
Frank de Boer (1999-2003)                          
Marc Overmars (2000-2004)                        
Giovanni van Bronckhorst (2003-2007)
Edgard Davids (2004)                                    
Mark van Bommel (2005-2006)
Ibrahim Afellay (2010-2014)

Exchanges between Barça and Ajax

Since Johan Cruyff and Neeskens came to FC Barcelona in the 1970s, there has been a constant connection between Ajax Amsterdam and the Catalan club. Eleven players have moved from the former to the latter: Cruyff, Neeskens, Witschge, Jordi Cruyff, Reiziger, Bogarde, Kluivert, Ronald de Boer, Frank de Boer, Overmars, Gio van Bronckhorst and Mark van Bommel. But there has also been traffic in the other direction, including Laudrup, Roger García, Gabri, Oleguer, Bojan and Cuenca.

(fcbarcelona.com)